Sunny's Kitchen (6 page)

1
Mix the dry ingredients.
Sift the flour, baking powder, 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar, and the salt into a large bowl.

2
Mix the wet ingredients.
In a small bowl, vigorously whisk the egg yolks until smooth, then add the brown sugar, milk, vegetable oil, lemon extract, and lemon zest. Whisk until the brown sugar is dissolved.

3
Mix the batter.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the wet mixture and gently stir the batter with a wooden spoon until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter. You can also use a hand beater or a stand mixer on low speed just pulsing. In another small bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon granulated sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whites into the batter.

4
Cook the waffles.
Preheat the oven to 150°F. Heat the waffle iron and coat both the top and bottom surfaces with cooking spray. Pour ¼ to ½ cup batter, depending on the size of the waffle iron, and close. Cook until crisp and golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes, or according to the iron settings. Place the waffles directly on the middle oven rack and toast them until a tap feels more hard than soft, as if they were stale. Once toasted, use the squares as a guide and cut each waffle into its individual squares. Raise the oven temperature to 350°F.

5
Mix the custard.
In a large bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, maple syrup, buttermilk, scallions, paprika, thyme, garlic, and a few grinds of black pepper. Taste and season with 1 or 2 pinches of salt, then add the 5 beaten eggs and whisk to combine.

6
Assemble the casserole.
Add the chicken and waffle squares to the custard and stir. Allow to rest for 10 minutes, stirring here and there, to soak the waffles with the custard. Grease an 8 × 8-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Pour the chicken and waffle mixture into the dish and pat down gently. In a medium bowl whisk to combine the maple syrup, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Add the French-fried onions. Stir to coat, then sprinkle evenly on top of the casserole.

7
Bake the casserole.
Bake until the crust is golden and crispy in parts and the custard is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving with a drizzle of maple syrup.

p
ancakes were the first breakfast I cooked when I was stationed in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time in months I had a kitchen. It was shared within my apartment complex, or barracks. I had only a small repertoire of recipes in my head, and pancakes was one of them. Growing up, our family cookbook had sticky pages where there was a recipe for pancakes on one side and waffles on the other. These pancakes were created for a guy I wanted to please; he loved peanut butter and I loved him. This blackberry syrup is very easy to make, and you can swirl it in oatmeal, drizzle it over vanilla ice cream, or put a spoonful in a glass and top it off with champagne.
MAKES TWELVE 5-INCH OR 24 SILVER-DOLLAR PANCAKES

1
Prepare the batter.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In another bowl whisk the egg, milk, and oil until combined. Add the peanut butter and vigorously whisk to combine. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. Gently whisk, starting in the center and moving out to combine. The batter should be slightly thicker than grade-school glue. Add a little extra milk if the batter feels too thick. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes; it will thicken as it rests.

2
Make the syrup.
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the blackberries, sugar, 1 cup water, the lemon zest, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, using a wooden spoon or potato masher to break down most of the blackberries. Simmer until the liquid is reduced to a syrupy consistency, about 10 minutes. Keep warm.

3
Make the pancakes.
Preheat the oven to 125°F. Preheat a nonstick griddle pan. Add 1 tablespoon butter and tilt the pan around to coat. Pour about ¼ cup of batter on the griddle for each 5-inch
pancake. Look for three things before you flip: air pockets start to pop up on the edges, the center is uncooked but not wet on the top, and a quick peek of the underside reveals a golden pancake. Repeat with the remaining butter and batter. Keep the finished pancakes warm in the oven while making the rest.

4
Serve.
Serve the pancakes with blackberry syrup. Refrigerate any remaining syrup in an airtight container for up to 1 month.

 

tips!
Other berries, or even a mixture of a few, work great for the syrup.
•
Add a sprinkle of chocolate or peanut butter chips to each pancake after it sets up a bit, but before it starts to bubble, then flip.

t
hese sticky buns are an outright guilty pleasure in every sense of the term. For me, the best guilty pleasures are the shortcuts on things I don’t want to do, like make puff pastry. I can devour this whole pan of buns in no time flat, so to spend hours making the pastry just doesn’t seem right. No matter where I go outside of my kitchen for a sticky bun, there’s never enough glaze to satisfy me, so making these at home allows me to pour on the fun and stuff them with all my favorite flavors.
MAKES 12 BUNS

1
Prepare the pan.
Use 1 tablespoon of the butter to grease the sides and bottom of a round 9-inch cake pan. Line with parchment paper cut to fit the bottom and set aside. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2
Prepare the puff pastry.
In a small pot, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter with a pinch of salt. Flatten the puff pastry and roll over it with a rolling pin or glass jar to even it out and seal any perforated seams. Brush the butter on all but a 1-inch wide strip along one of the long edges. Repeat for the second puff pastry sheet.

3
Prepare the filling.
Put the brown sugar, pecans, apple, raisins, lemon zest, orange zest, pumpkin pie spice, cardamom, and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Stir until combined. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the pastry sheets, being careful to leave the unbuttered edge of each sheet free of the filling.

4
Roll the pastry.
Starting from the long end opposite the clean edge, begin to tightly roll the pastry. Tuck and press as you go, keeping the log as even as possible. When the edge is reached, roll the pastry onto itself and pinch to seal. Repeat with the second pastry sheet. Using a serrated knife, trim the edges and gently cut 6 equal slices from each log.

5
Bake the pastry.
Place the slices spiral side up in the prepared cake pan. Start around the edges and fill in the center last. It’s okay if the edges touch. Bake until the pastry is cooked through and golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes.

6
Make the glaze.
In a small pot, melt the butter over low heat. Add the vanilla, lemon juice, and orange juice and begin whisking in the confectioners’ sugar in ¼-cup increments. Continue to add the sugar, whisking between additions, until the glaze thickens. Taste and season with a tiny pinch of salt, then remove from the heat. When the buns are done, remove them from the oven and drizzle the glaze over the top.

 

tip!
Flip the recipe—instead of filling the puff pastry with the nuts, apples, and raisins, layer them on the bottom of the prepared cake pan and place the buns on top. After baking, invert them onto a plate so the fillings are on the top. Drizzle glaze over the top.

h
oecakes are pancakes’ corny Southern cousin. I went forever not thinking about them; then one trip to Savannah brought all my memories flooding back. I was there to tape an episode of
Paula’s Best Dishes
with Paula Deen and had dinner planned at her restaurant, The Lady & Sons. Instead of first bringing bread and butter or chips and salsa to the table, a waiter plunked down a hefty plate of biscuits and hoecakes with softened butter and syrup. With one bite I was back in my grandma’s kitchen. So now I make hoecakes regularly. I know we are hanging out in the breakfast and brunch section, but if you feel like getting your Savannah on, next time you have people over for dinner, serve these as an appetizer and watch your guests turn into kids.
MAKES 14

1
Mix and rest the batter.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, milk, 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, corn, and pickled jalapeños. Pour the corn mixture into the bowl with the flour mixture and stir to combine. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. If it thickens to where it cannot easily pour, add an extra tablespoon of milk at a time until the consistency is right.

2
Cook the hoecakes.
Preheat the oven to 125°F. Heat about ½ inch of vegetable oil in a cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to swirl, add batter in batches, using a small ice cream scoop or ¼-cup measure. Gently spread each hoecake into a circle, if needed. Flip the hoecakes when air pockets begin to pop on the surface of the batter and a peek beneath reveals golden edges, about 2 minutes. Once the second side is golden brown, transfer to a baking sheet in the warm oven and continue making the rest of the hoecakes. Serve with maple syrup.